ITL Bulletin March 2009

The Cryptographic Hash Algorithm Family: Revision of the Secure Hash Standard and Ongoing Competition for New Hash Algorithms

Author(s)

Shirley Radack (NIST)

Abstract

This bulletin summarizes information disseminated in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 180-3, Secure Hash Standard; NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-107, Recommendation for Applications Using Approved Hash Algorithms, by Quynh Dang; SP 800-106, Randomized Hashing for Digital Signatures, by Quynh Dang; and Federal Register Notice (Vol. 72, No. 212, pp. 62212-20) published on November 2, 2007. The bulletin discusses a revision of the Federal government s standard for implementing secure hash functions. The bulletin also provides updated information about the process that ITL is conducting to develop a new, robust cryptographic hash algorithm through an open, public competition. References are given to web pages that can be accessed for more information about the standard, recommendations for implementation, and the public competition for a new algorithm that is needed because recent advances in the cryptanalysis of hash functions could threaten the security of cryptographic processes.

This bulletin summarizes information disseminated in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 180-3, Secure Hash Standard; NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-107, Recommendation for Applications Using Approved Hash Algorithms, by Quynh Dang; SP 800-106, Randomized Hashing for Digital Signatures, by Quynh Dang; and Federal Register Notice (Vol. 72, No. 212, pp. 62212-20) published on November 2, 2007. The bulletin discusses a revision of the Federal government s standard for implementing secure hash functions. The bulletin also provides updated information about the process that ITL is conducting to develop a new, robust cryptographic hash algorithm through an open, public competition. References are given to web pages that can be accessed for more information about the standard, recommendations for implementation, and the public competition for a new algorithm that is needed because recent advances in the cryptanalysis of hash functions could threaten the security of cryptographic processes.Hide full abstract